BRUNSWICK

“Sorry for the bumps,” said Kim Stone on a mid-September afternoon, speaking over the loud motor of an all-terrain vehicle after one of its tires rolls over a rock jutting out of the forest floor and roars up a steep incline. “It’s much easier on a horse.”

Stone has never wanted a desk job. Rather than spend her days sitting on an office chair, she is often — literally — in the saddle. “I can’t imagine a life without horses,” Stone said, who owns Shinanatu Farm with her husband, Doug, on River Road in Brunswick.

Shinanatu — which sounds like “shining at you” — is 17.5 acres of pasture, forest and an abandoned sand pit.

Shinanatu’s wooded area is a network of riding trails with names such as “Man from Snowy River Trail,” whereas the pit is now dubbed The Birches Arena — a dirt clearing with barrels and different obstacles such as “conversation rock” to be negotiated by horse and rider.

On Sept. 2, Shinanatu hosted an American Quarter Horse Association Trail Challenge that drew 31 horses with adult and youth riders, including those from Bowdoinham, Bath and Durham and beyond.

It was the largest trail challenge by the Maine Quarter Horse Association and the first time a competition was hosted at Shinanatu, said Stone.

In addition, clinics are held at the farm, which is available to riders by appointment for a fee.

The Stones purchased the farm in 2013. Since then, the Stones, with help from Kim Stone’s parents, the Kenneys, have been hard at work landscaping, designing and maintaining a network of trails in a wooded area in the back of the property butting up against the Androscoggin River.

Stone said she wants the farm to be a destination “where people can come and enjoy their horses in a natural-trail environment that incorporates obstacles with the natural slope of the land.”

Fred Kenney described trails defined by hills and slopes, bridges and natural obstacles to challenge horse and rider. Terrain can be sandy or deep, trailing around trees and one significant boulder.

Stone described the trails as “aggressive,” but can be used for any level of ridership. “It’s a great way for someone to be able to build a partnership with their horse.… This is a safe place to come.”

“I think this place is beautiful,” said Stone. “Riding for me is being in rhythm, being in-tune with your horse. … There’s a trust there.”

That trust comes with time, Stone said, adding that “if you’re in a hurry to do that, this is not for you.”

In addition to her life among horses, Stone is a photographer. Many of her photos feature, perhaps unsurprisingly, horses and riders.

Stone’s mother, Penny Kenney, said Stone was riding since she was 13 months old.

“I’ve ridden all of my life,” said Stone, who grew up in Harpswell.

It was a mare called Indy “that catapulted my ‘adult horse’ journey into going deeper in my horsemanship,” Stone said. Indy’s father was named Shinan Attraction, a name Stone said she loved.

Stone also purchased a three-day-old filly she named Suny Shinan Blu Moon.

Before settling in Brunswick, Stone worked for more than five years as a cowboy in Idaho and Oregon, where she would be riding for up to 16 hours a day herding cattle.

Today, Stone owns five horses at Shinanatu Farm, including ones that have “saved my life” during her cowboy years, such as one time she was caught in a quicksand-like bog. During times like those, “you create a bond that is not easily explained,” Stone said.

“Those are really amazing moments,” Stone said.

For more information, go to shinanatu.com. For a calendar of events, clinics and trail rides, go to facebook.com/shinanatu. Shinanatu’s next event will be a clinic by horse trainer and author Martin Black of Y6 Ranch of Bruneau, Idaho, on Oct. 12-13. The clinic will focus on horsemanship and versatility.

jswinconeck@timesrecord.com

Saddle up!

• FOR MORE information, go to shinanatu.com. For a calendar of events, clinics and trail rides, go to facebook.com/shinanatu.

• SHINANATU’S next event will be a clinic by horse trainer and author Martin Black of Y6 Ranch of Bruneau, Idaho, on Oct. 12-13. The clinic will focus on horsemanship and versatility.